Jump to content

Darling Baphomet's Altar


Darling Baphomet

Recommended Posts

Platinum #53: God of War

1L13ff8b.png

This trophy has been a month or so coming. I finished the game in January or early February, but didn't want to bother with the collectibles during my trophy burnout. 
Overall a fantastic game, though quirky. The overemphasis on backtracking takes some fun out of the thing, and the story seems a bit redundant at points. That being said, I can see why they downscaled it from the grandeur of God of War 3 - this is clearly a setup for another trilogy, and much like the first God of War, they're not intent on blowing their load immediately. 
The combat is probably my favorite part of this game - though a bit sluggish, it's incredibly well done, and much more in-depth than that of most games I've played recently. Also, being able to shoot a laser (yes, I know it's actually ice) out of your axe is pretty badass.
 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Platinum #54: Vampyr

1Ld6f916.png

Managed to make a double trophy day! And for two large games, too. 
Vampyr's a fantastic story-driven RPG with great setting and character writing - every citizen I killed made me feel bad for having taken their life, and for the platinum, I had to kill a lot of people. Some characters' last thoughts struck me to the core.
That being said, the gameplay is a bit mediocre, and once you've done both a pacifist and genocide run, you begin to see how little the main story really changes. While the gameplay isn't bad if you're feeding enough for a good amount of EXP, you really start to see its flaws when you're underleveled. It's a souls-esque game without the perfection that makes souls combat fair, and due to my issues with my pacifist run I ended up taking frequent breaks. Ultimately I had to use some rather game-y strategies (spamming sleep and waiting for citizens to get sick, for the miniscule amount of EXP you get from curing them) to get myself to a livable level.
Apparently there's a Vampyr TV series in the works, and I'm excited to see what that turns out like. Vampyr's setting is magnificent and I would love to see a follow up to this rough gem.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Platinum #55: No Heroes Allowed! VR

9L7b00f3.png

So, this little PSVR title caught me completely off guard. I was expecting an average PSVR experience, but it's actually incredibly fun, albeit very short. It's a cute little strategy game where you play in front of a table in front of you, on which you command armies to conquer the outside world. The gameplay is simplistic and fairly easy, but having constant chatter from Badman and Badmella (paragons of virtue, these two) makes the game very enjoyable. Their personalities are humorous, the dialogue is amusing and full of game references, and having them standing next to you in PSVR makes all the difference.
As said, this game is pretty easy, and that goes for the platinum as well. There aren't any trophies that demand an undue amount of attention, and most you'll get naturally while playing the story. 

Edited by Darling Baphomet
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Platinum #56: Gravel

1Lb7f26a.png

Pretty fun racing game, albeit flawed. While it's much more arcade-y than most of the sim racers (which I'm not a fan of at all), It still possesses some of the clunkiness inherent of more realistic racers. The collisions are basically impact-less, meaning in narrow racetracks you often end up stuck pushing the car in front of you, and the lack of actual collision physics makes it really hard to get out of being stuck on another car. That being said, there's a handy rewind feature which makes the game far more accessible than it otherwise would be, as you can simply rewind and adjust your course to avoid a misstep that would otherwise force you to quit.
All in all, there's a lot of minor flaws with this game. The camera angles kinda suck, there's this one gamemode where you need to crash through boxes with 'go' arrows, but you don't find out which ones are 'go' until you're close, sometimes too close for course correction. The pop-in is really hideous and the draw distance is abysmal (though the game is otherwise pretty.) But with all that said, it's worth the 10-20$ you can get it for on sale, and it's not a frustrating platinum to earn.
Still, makes me want a good arcade racer. Hopefully Xenon Racer ends up good?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...

Since the trophy passes are still active until October, I figured I'd take a crack at the easier platinums I have, starting with PS Now's library, which is a gold mine of mediocre games that can be finished quickly. Not sure if that's a good thing?

 

Platinum #57: Adam's Venture: Origins

1L1f0168.png

This is a fairly easy puzzle platformer. It stutters a bit, which is odd given that it has PS3 era graphics, but besides that it's a fairly okay experience. The platinum can easily be obtained in a few hours of play, the puzzles are all pretty easy, and it's on PS Now, so it's practically a free platinum.

That being said, as an actual game, it is a bit lacking. The story makes no sense, and the dialogue is cringe worthy at best. But still, it's a game.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 9 months later...

Hey everyone - that is, anyone who used to read this thread who's still here - it's been a busy year! I ended up gravitating out of trophy hunting due to the obsessive nature of it, but I've recently started playing Spyro and that's reignited my thirst for completionism. Might restructure this thread again. Who knows.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Platinum #58: Spyro The Dragon

1L891f42.png

 

So, I was actually really hesitant about getting the Spyro trilogy. It looked fun and colorful, but I've had a *lot* of goofy 3D platformers that just... failed to make a mark. But then I had a moment of weakness and decided to buy it anyway, and honestly? I don't regret it at all. I've spent the last two days playing it and it's honestly a fantastic game, cheery and colorful, and despite being a remake of a pretty old game, plays very well. I can't really say it ever gave me much difficulty - there were a few awkward jumps and supercharges that took up to half an hour to master, but nothing as bad as spending 3 hours trying to get that one Ratchet & Clank race done with.

Anyway, good game. Solid 8.5/10 IMO. Onto Spyro 2!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice to see you back, beating games. Don't worry too much about the long absence, I'm no stranger to those myself.Someties you just need a break from trophy hunting. Or even video games as a whole. Congrats on platinum #58, I hope you enjoy the Spyro trilogy, I beat those awhile ago myself.

Edited by James_Tonto
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've been playing Rage 2 lately and plan to platinum it, and honestly, this game is exhilarating. I was super hesitant to buy it on sale because of the poor review scores, and it definitely isn't the biggest open world game I've ever played, but the combat is fantastic and it's gorgeous. It *is* a bit buggy, though - I've had one crash, one audio bug, and my HUD has disappeared multiple times so far. Still, pretty good game overall. Might actually buy the DLC for once.

 

On 4/30/2020 at 3:41 AM, James_Tonto said:

Nice to see you back, beating games. Don't worry too much about the long absence, I'm no stranger to those myself.Someties you just need a break from trophy hunting. Or even video games as a whole. Congrats on platinum #58, I hope you enjoy the Spyro trilogy, I beat those awhile ago myself.

 

Yeah, I get a bit obsessive with my trophy hunting so I end up burning myself out rather quickly. I need to learn to tiptoe that line between playing games just to play games and playing games for completionism.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey, nice list of plats. I have a lot of interest on playing some that you have like both Metro games, the new God of War, Horizon, Hellblade, No Mans Sky, Spiderman and Vampyr.
Also, can you tell me about Bastion? I've meaning to start this game for quite a while but didn't had the opportunity yet. Cheers!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, evs_castro said:

Also, can you tell me about Bastion? I've meaning to start this game for quite a while but didn't had the opportunity yet. Cheers!

 

It's an older indie game - it was a classic when I was still a kid - but I think it's aged relatively well. It's a very cute top down dungeon crawler type of game, except the "dungeons" are very specific levels, each artistically distinct. You use a bunch of different weapons, each of which play completely differently. It also has a very nice soundtrack and good storytelling. It's honestly hard to hate - I'd put it as one of my favorite indie games of all time.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, Darling Baphomet said:

Yeah, I get a bit obsessive with my trophy hunting so I end up burning myself out rather quickly. I need to learn to tiptoe that line between playing games just to play games and playing games for completionism.

 

Yeah, i quite regularly have this issue.

Its always hard with playing a game to its 'fullest' and trying to get the plat/100%.

I think my biggest issue is playing games that require difficulty on max, i find it difficult to play on a normal difficulty first to just enjoy the game and having to play again just for the trophies.

 

Spyro is a great trilogy to drop back into things.

Some of my favorite platforming memories and the remaster was done superbly well.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh right, since my stimulus check came in recently (and I had a bit of extra money before then) I've bought a few new games in the last week or two. So far:

 

Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey

Spyro: Reignited Trilogy

The Crew 2

Odin Sphere Leifthraiser

Flockers

Rage 2 (+ DLC)

Far Cry 5

Blood and Truth

Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition

Trover Saves the Universe

 

The Crew 2 seems pretty good so far, reviews be damned, and I've been having a racing itch that my VR Racing games haven't quite itched, since I'm mostly done with Xenon Racer (which is pretty good). I was hoping to get Wreckfest, but it went off sale the day I got my check, so oof. I'm thinking of getting Jedi: Fallen Order but honestly I've bought too many games as is and 35$ isn't that good a sale.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've 100%ed Rise of the Ghosts, Rage 2's only proper expansion. It was honestly pretty good as far as DLCs go. The city was gorgeous and much more compact than the usual game was, although the ghosts eventually got annoying to fight. I'm in the 'finishing up' stages of Rage 2 now - still have something like 15 spy drones left to go and 200 rocket launcher kills, but that shouldn't be too hard to take care of. It's definitely a fun game - and gorgeous - but once you get to the end game and have no new weapons / powers to find, it starts to overstay its welcome. Still, the open world is fun, and driving around killing swathes of people is rarely this much fun.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Platinum #59: RAGE 2

1L3c61d8.png

So... this game is definitely a mixed bag. The combat? Absolutely fantastic. Visuals? Also fantastic. If they'd stuck to this game being nothing but a non-stop collection of battles, it would have been solid. But... they tried to make it into an open world. And it works... but only kinda. For the first 5-10 hours of playing this, I was blown away. The visuals were great, exploring to find bandit dens was also great, and there were enough activities to keep me busy. But the world isn't that big, and there isn't that much variety in terms of what kind of missions you can do, and once you've gotten all of the powers / weapons there isn't that much to look forward to. So it's a mixed bag. Great game, but shallow, in the end. Definitely worth the 20$ I paid for it, though.

The DLC is also a mixed bag - if you enjoy the base game, it'll probably be worth it - Rise of the Ghosts tacks on a few good hours of gameplay on a fun little island. Terrormania is honestly mediocre, but has a cool sword.

If you're going to platinum this, note that it's important to start collecting Spy Drones and Goon kills from the start forwards, to avoid unnecessary grinding. Spy Drones are often found around bandit dens and such. Go for the perks that let you detect them ASAP.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 5/1/2020 at 8:13 PM, Darling Baphomet said:

 

It's an older indie game - it was a classic when I was still a kid - but I think it's aged relatively well. It's a very cute top down dungeon crawler type of game, except the "dungeons" are very specific levels, each artistically distinct. You use a bunch of different weapons, each of which play completely differently. It also has a very nice soundtrack and good storytelling. It's honestly hard to hate - I'd put it as one of my favorite indie games of all time.

 

The game came out on July 20th, 2011. I remember it well on Steam, which is one of the reasons why I bought it on PS4 so I can earn the trophies.

 

Judging by your posts I expected you to be much older.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Spaz said:

 

The game came out on July 20th, 2011. I remember it well on Steam, which is one of the reasons why I bought it on PS4 so I can earn the trophies.

 

Judging by your posts I expected you to be much older.

Yeah, I was about 13 or 14 at the time, if I recall correctly - at the very least, that's when I first started seeing posts about it and was interested in it. So I have fond memories. I used to play a lot of indie games back then, but not many of them were of as fine a make as Bastion.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Darling Baphomet said:

Yeah, I was about 13 or 14 at the time, if I recall correctly - at the very least, that's when I first started seeing posts about it and was interested in it. So I have fond memories. I used to play a lot of indie games back then, but not many of them were of as fine a make as Bastion.

 

Funny how your stories turn out.

 

When I was 14 years old I was playing the ever loving shit out of Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask on the N64, sipping on five - six cans of Coca Cola. Which later on, gave me cavities in my teeth. Wish I could go back to those days.

 

Bastion came out just after my 23rd birthday, so I had the money and time to buy and play the game since I was living on my own by that point.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Spaz said:

 

Funny how your stories turn out.

 

When I was 14 years old I was playing the ever loving shit out of Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask on the N64, sipping on five - six cans of Coca Cola. Which later on, gave me cavities in my teeth. Wish I could go back to those days.

 

Bastion came out just after my 23rd birthday, so I had the money and time to buy and play the game since I was living on my own by that point.

Coca Cola!!.... pahhhh !!! By the time us Brits are 14 we have move on to Special brew and Wild Turkey!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

With Rage 2 done with, I've been playing Dangerous Driving, Spyro 2, and Age of Wonders: Planetfall (although the last of these I probably won't platinum for a while.) Spyro 2 continues being fun, as the first was, although I'm already sick of the underwater levels and I kind of miss Spyro 1's simplicity - being artificially gatekept from completing levels as soon as you find them is a bit frustrating, as in Spyro 1 I 100%'d each level as I got to it.

 

Dangerous Driving is... interesting. I've wanted it for a while but kept seeing mediocre reviews, so I didn't bother. But I finally sealed the deal and picked it up on sale. It's definitely a game made by a small team - honestly, it feels like it's held together with duct tape - but nonetheless, at some points it genuinely does feel like Burnout. Unfortunately, getting to those moments can be somewhat hindered by things like needing to connect Spotify *every time I start the game.* Regardless, it's a good game, and 2 will likely be good as well.

 

Age of Wonders: Planetfall is... interesting. It's been a long time since I've played a proper 4x game, and I remember getting addicted to them when I was younger, so I figured I'd bite the bullet on it and its DLC. It's definitely a good game. Creating your own characters is fun, and I do appreciate the XCOM-esque combat. Still very early into it, though, so I can't say much more than that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Platinum #60: Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage

1L3f1abf.png

So, I'm going to be honest - I initially didn't like Spyro 2 that much, at least not compared to 1. 1 had the beautiful simplicity of being able to 100% every level as you came to it, and new skills initially seemed to compromise this, although they turned out to be rare enough to be manageable. Swimming is also an incredibly painful endeavor and controls.... badly. Dragons aren't made for swimming, who knew?

 

But besides that, it's a very colorful, fun game world, much like Spyro 1 was. It's genuinely fun to romp through and hoarding collectables is just as fun now as it was in the first game, and it's a beautiful one, although only having three main worlds was felt - Spyro 1 seemed much more imaginative and distinct, overall, although Spyro 2 is much more advanced in many ways. Anyway, onwards to 3!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...